Pros

Cons

No image library.
Cannot import from Gmail or third-party address books.
Not real-time analytics.
No phone or chat support.

Bottom Line

Email marketing tool Campaign Monitor offers advanced features such as auto-responder messages and user segmentation, but it doesn't offer much in the way of live support or third-party integration.

17 Jan 2018Fahmida Y. Rashid

Campaign Monitor (which begins at $9 per month) is easy-to-use email marketing software with an attractive user interface (UI) and a host of generous features. Since we last reviewed it, Campaign Monitor added a host of new features, including action-based autoresponders. It's still a notch behind Editors' Choice winners Campaigner and MailChimp, but the company is constantly improving its product.

Among the tool's newest developments is a set of analytics dubbed "Campaign Monitor Insights" that gives customers a more granular look at the overall performance of their email marketing campaign. Specific metrics include aggregrated views across brands and campaigns, audience health that covers subscriber activity and engagement, and detailed engagement and acquisition trend analysis to help speed return-on-investment (ROI).

Pricing and Features

Campaign Monitor offers a tiered subscription structure with a slew of options, mostly based on the number of contacts you have and the number of messages you send each month. The cheapest plan costs $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers and 2,500 emails. There are also packages for 2,500 subscribers and 12,500 emails (starting at $29 per month), 5,000 subscribers and 25,000 emails (starting at $49 per month), and 50,000 subscribers (starting at $299 per month for 250,000 emails). Custom high-volume plans are available if you have more than 50,000 subscribers.

At each tier, you can also opt for Unlimited or Premium plans. The Unlimited option includes unlimited emails to your subscribers each month, and starts at $29 per month for 500 subscribers and also includes unlimited inbox previews and spam testing. The cost goes up to $699 per month for 50,000 contacts. Finally, starting at $149 per month, the Premier plan adds an email design consultant, online training and onboarding, and dedicated customer support, which includes priority phone and email. It is also tiered based on the number of subscribers. If you're not planning to send emails regularly, then you can sign up for a pay-as-you-go plan for $5 per campaign and 1 cent per recipient.

Signing up is simple. You don't have to provide payment information until you're ready to send a campaign to more than five people, which is nice. After you provide your name, company, email, and password, you must choose an account type. Option one is if you're emailing for your own company and option two is if you're managing someone else's email communications and reselling Campaign Monitor's services. Then you indicate whether you're a single team or multiple teams or departments. After that, you can jump right in and start creating campaigns. You must also verify your email in order to send. Campaign Monitor automatically creates a custom URL for you based on your company name.

The dashboard is very clean, which is a nice respite from often busy business software interfaces, like what we faced with ActiveCampaign. On the top left-hand side are five tabs: Overview, Campaigns, Automation, Transactional, and Lists & Subscribers. From the Overview page, there's a large green button to create your first campaign. Underneath the green button are the three steps involved: Customize Template, Add Subscribers, and Test & Send. It's nice to get an overview of the process before you jump in. On the upper right-hand side, you can access a drop-down menu to manage your account.

Creating a Subscriber List

You can add subscribers as you're setting up your first campaign or as a separate process. Subscribers must be part of a list that you create, although you can set up unlimited lists, which is one way to segment your users. To add subscribers to a list, you can type or paste names, emails, and other information into a box, with information separated by commas, each on a separate line. For example: Molly McLaughlin, email@address.com, New York City. Then, Campaign Monitor will try to match your entries with custom fields. You can also upload a contact file via drag-and-drop or by selecting from your computer. On the right-hand side of the screen are guidelines for acceptable uploads. Subscribers must have opted in on your website, purchased a product within the last two years, or shared their contact information in person or via another offline manner. Restrictions include paid subscriber lists, those you haven't emailed in more than two years, addresses obtained from a third party, or those that you scraped or copy-and-pasted from the internet.

Next, you match up fields. Campaign Monitor identified the email addresses we uploaded correctly but didn't recognize full names or cities, which we thought was odd. You can use a drop-down list to correct a field or create a new one. Then, click finish and you're done. Using the List & Subscribers tab, you can manage your subscribers and view unsubscribes, bounces, and deletes. From here, you can also create a sign-up form for your website, create workflows (aka, automated emails), add custom fields, and create segments (subsets of your subscribers, such as new customers or regional subscribers).

Setting Up a Campaign

Creating a campaign is also easy. To start, you just need a name, subject line, and an email address for the "From" field (you can set up a separate "reply to" email as well). In the subject, you can also add the subscriber's first, last, or full name for extra personalization. Next, you can choose a template or import your own HTML design. You can also send a plain text email but Campaign Monitor can't track open or click rates on non-HTML emails, which will limit tracking for folks specializing in HTML-only newsletters.

Designing your email is done via a simple drag-and-drop interface. It works a lot like an online website builder, like Wix, with which you can choose the elements you want on the page, such as images, spacers, and text. You can also remove the elements you don't want. You can also add your company logo and include footers with links to social media, contact information, and more. Emails can be previewed on desktop but not mobile platforms, a handy feature that other services provide, such as SendinBlue. Once you're satisfied with your email, you can add recipients. You can choose from existing lists or import new ones. You can then schedule delivery (send it now or later) or send a test. Optionally, Campaign Monitor will send you a confirmation email when it finishes the send, which can be helpful if you have thousands of subscribers.

In addition to sending regular emails, you can also set up automated emails by setting up a workflow on the Automation tab. Campaign Monitor offers nine templated workflows, including Getting Started, Happy Birthday, Thank You, and Blog Updates. You can also create your own custom workflow by choosing a trigger (opens an email, reaches an anniversary, or similar milestones). Just remember that you need to collect this information from your subscribers first. You can then choose a template and design your email just as you would a regular campaign.

Tracking a Campaign

After you send a campaign, you can then view the report, which displays open, bounces, link clicks, unsubscribes, social shares, and more. Opens are registered nearly immediately, which is helpful. You can view a pie chart showing the open rate and a line chart showing that rate over time. This way, you can see spikes of open rates, which may occur at certain times of day and could inform you about when to send future emails. You can also drill down to recipients, view their location (based on their IP address), which links they clicked on, and which platform they use to view emails.

Campaign Monitor offers a searchable Help section with detailed articles on creating and editing campaigns and managing subscribers. There are also user forums in which you can troubleshoot issues and get tips from other customers. Most topics are active, with entries getting anywhere from less than 10 views to over 60,000 views. If all else fails, you can email support and, in most cases, you'll receive a reply within 24 hours. As we mentioned, Campaign Monitor can't be reached by phone or chat, though, which can be frustrating when you're experiencing issues.

Campaign Monitor has nearly all of the puzzle pieces needed for email marketing campaigns, including attractive templates, custom autoresponders, and detailed analytics. It's also very easy to use, which is particularly important here since you can't reach live support directly. That said, emails are typically answered promptly and most issues can be solved rather quickly.

More Inside PCMag.com

About the Author

Fahmida Y. Rashid is a senior analyst for business at PCMag.com. She focuses on ways businesses can use technology to work efficiently and easily. She is paranoid about security and privacy, and considers security implications when evaluating business technology. She has written for eWEEK, Dark Reading, and SecurityWeek covering security, core Internet infrastructure, and open source.